Education

And so it is with Phil Driscoll.
One summer afternoon, a dear friend suddenly fell to the ground and was given a 5% chance of living after it was pronounced that she had suffered a brain aneurysm.
Her family and friends gathered to pray, hoping against the odds she would survive.
When quietly she slipped into eternity, the grief seemed overwhelming.
She was in her 20s.

I was home when I received the phone call.
I sunk to the floor as the tears began to flow.
Because music has played such a huge role in my life, the first thing I did was turn on the radio, hoping to derive some comfort from a song.
At that exact moment, Phil's impassioned, soulful voice began singing, "When you're weary, feeling small, when tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all..."

Prosecutors are asking for an 18-24-month federal prison sentence for Grammy-Awarding winning Christian performer Phil Driscoll at his sentencing on Thursday for income tax evasion.

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Driscoll, who has continued to operate his ministry concert schedule, is due to appear before Federal Judge Curtis Collier at 2 p.m.

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Driscoll has since moved his ministry out of Cleveland.

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The memorandum says Phil Driscoll was born in Seattle, Wash., in 1947, the son of a pastor of a small gospel church.The family later moved to Lancaster, Tex., where Driscoll began to play a trumpet given him by his father.He quickly became accomplished on it and was invited to play in the high school band while still in the sixth grade.

The family moved to Tulsa, Okla., in 1961, and Driscoll played trumpet in the Tulsa All City Band and was a soloist in the Tulsa Youth Symphony.He helped found a touring band called the "Young Tulsans" that is still in existence.

When he graduated from high school, he was offered more than 60 music scholarships.However, he took a year to tour the country with a jazz band.He enrolled at Baylor University in 1968 and the next year he cut his first gospel album.He appeared on a number of TV shows, including the Ed Sullivan Show, the Merv Griffin Show and the Steve Allen Show.He toured the Far East for the USO.

The memorandum says Driscoll moved to Jacksonville, Fla., and opened a nightclub called "Driscoll's."He began to write and record music in a small studio inside the club.His music was recorded by Blood Sweat & Tears and other groups, and he was invited to tour with Joe Cocker at the end of 1977.

It says Driscoll during this time "was exposed to life in the fast lane and learned to like it."After a brief marriage in college, he had been married again in the early 1970s, but that marriage did not last, though it produced a son, Shawn.

The memorandum says, "Fortunately, while in Jacksonville, Mr. Driscoll met and fell in love with Lynne Blankenship, and she has been with him ever since."

It says the couple went to church on Christmas Day 1977, and he "had a conversion experience which changed not only his heart but the entire direction of his life and career.From that day on, he resolved to dedicate himself to living a life of faith and to using his talents to spread the gospel."

It says that resolve was interrupted a month later when he was arrested and charged as part of a 32-count cocaine distribution conspiracy in Jacksonville."The matter was resolved, but it drastically affected the way he was perceived in Jacksonville and contributed to his decision to relocate."

Driscoll was ordained as a minister in the early 1980s, and he moved to Cleveland, Tn., in 1982 because it was home to many Christian organizations and schools.

He founded Mighty Horn Ministries in 1982.

Driscoll later won a Grammy Award, several Dove Awards and was named Artist of the Year by the Christian Music Association in 1999.

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Uniformly, they convey another common message - Phil Driscoll is unique, because he has an extraordinary talent and has devoted himself to using that ability to spread a message of faith and love of country."

She said he has performed at the Inauguration, the dedication of the Columbine memorial, the ceremony for the Congressional Medal of Honor winners and the post-9/11 Emmy Awards.

Attorney Junghans said, "One of the most painful aspects of this prosecution has been that the accusations of wrongdoing were made not only against Mr. Driscoll but against his wife and late mother-in-law.

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It is impossible for Mr. Driscoll to escape the feeling that the pressure of the prosecution hastened Mrs. Blankenship's death, and the family's pain was enhanced by the spiteful and hurtful appearance of Richard Blankenship (brother of Lynne Driscoll who testified for the government)."

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Phil Driscoll, who did not testify at the trial, said in a letter to the court that "our name and that of our ministry were marred and all but destroyed, and many of our closest friends turned their backs and walked away."

Attorney Junghans said, "In this case, there can be no doubt that any misconduct involved pales in comparison to the enormous good Mr. Driscoll has accomplished - and hopes to continue to achieve.

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The government is seeking an order for Driscoll to pay almost $25,000 in costs of prosecution, and the IRS has issued a notice of deficiency for more than $1 million in taxes, interest and penalties for the years 1996 through 1999.

Mike is a personal friend of Phil's and Phil made a commitment some time ago to give ten per cent of his time to prison ministry.

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Another close friend of Phil's, Mylon LeFevre, preached at the Wynne Unit on the night of the 14th and on the night of the 15th, Phil ministered to the men.
Phil reached out to the men in song, in worship and in preaching the Word of God.
Most of what he did that night was unrehearsed and spontaneous.
He even sang a song for the guys that he'd never sung in public before.
The men ate it up.
These men are desperate for hope and that's one thing that Phil always brings to them ... hope.
Hope for the future, hope for eternity.
Security at the Wynne Unit is very tight and the men are under close guard at all times.
They are not allowed to stand up while they are being ministered to.
But the presence of the Lord was so powerful that night when Phil ministered that all of the men stood up ... to honor God and to honor Phil.
That's a powerful statement by the inmates.
hil has ministered at the Wynne Unit before and God always shows up when he does.
The men love Phil because he's real, he doesn't play games with them and he genuinely cares about the souls of these men.
He takes time to prepare for these prison ministry events .. time he really doesn't have to spare right now.
He takes several days to get his rig up and running right.
He puts together a song list although he doesn't always stick to it, and he takes the time to rehearse the songs and ensure he has a sound man with him.
He often takes a friend with him to play keyboards.
Phil also makes sure he gets there on time, which means prepping the plane and handling all of the flight plan information before flying to Texas, usually the day before.
Ministering in prison is a serious commitment, not something Phil takes lightly.
He ministers somewhere in a prison every December as a gift to the men.
Phil never accepts payment for doing this.
The Phil Driscoll Team
phil driscoll
This entry was posted in Blog and tagged Huntsville, jail, Phil Driscoll, Prison, Texas, Visit, Wynne Unit on
April 6, 2014
by Phil Driscoll.

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This entry was posted in Blog and tagged mouthpiece, Phil Driscoll, Roy Roman, trumpet on